


Whumptober Day 4 - Human Shield

by TexdoesHalo



Series: Whumptober - 2019 [4]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Assassination Attempt(s), Betrayal, Grenades, Hospitalization, It scares Jack how willing the kid is to die for him, M/M, Near Death, Rhys is so damn loyal, Rhys the PA, Self-Sacrifice, Shrapnel Wound, Vaughn and Yvette are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-25 20:42:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20918306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TexdoesHalo/pseuds/TexdoesHalo
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple meeting with the board. Then an idiot pulled a grenade, and another idiot decided to try and give their life for Jack's.Jack was so gonna kick Rhys' ass for that later





	Whumptober Day 4 - Human Shield

**Author's Note:**

> Day 4! Jack loves his PA, he really does, but he hates it when the kid gets hurt trying to protect him.

It was just supposed to be a routine meeting with the Board, until some power-hungry idiot decided to pull a grenade and chuck it straight at Jack.

What a fucking idiot.

The guy was dead in seconds, torn to shreds by the conference rooms hidden turrets. Seriously, how stupid could you be to attack Handsome-fricking-Jack? But, the grenade slipped past the turrets, flying right at the big man himself.

Now, he wasn’t concerned one bit, not with the high-tech Hyperion shield clipped to his belt. But, then it shorted out. 

Before he could even say, “What the cra-” his stupidly loyal PA had thrown himself between the now vulnerable CEO and almost certain death. Jack called him stupidly loyal for a reason though-

-the idiot didn’t have a frickin shield.

Jack had barely a second to recognize what Rhys had done before the world exploded. 

When he came to the room was in complete disarray. The table was missing one whole end and the other board members were screaming, some clutching gaping wounds as they slumped against the walls or staggered to the door. But Jack didn’t care about any of them, he only wanted to find one person.

“Rhys…”

Kneeling over the PA’s crumpled form, Jack could already see the blood seeping out to pool around his limp body. Gently rolling the unconscious man onto his back, Jack couldn’t stop his eyes from blowing wide at the sight of the huge piece of shrapnel stuck in Rhys’ side.

_Oh no no no…not like this cupcake. You aren’t leaving me like this!_

Screaming orders into his Echo, Jack scooped Rhys up and sprinted out of the room towards the medbay, constantly throwing glances down at the rapidly paling man. “Hold on, kiddo. We’re almost there just hold on.”

Practically kicking down the door to Helios’ ER, Jack took Rhys directly into an operating room, shoving some random worker off the table and lying Rhys there instead. Fixing the doctor’s with a glare that promised a painful death in the event of failure, Jack snarled at them,**_ “Fix him.”_**

He could see the fear in the eyes of the surgeons, but they quickly got to work, Jack reluctantly stepping back to let them work on Rhys. Absentmindedly running his fingers over something in his hand, Jack glanced down to see the watch he had given Rhys as a “You survived a year as my PA” present. The golden timepiece was a unique model made just for the PA. Jack knew Rhys could check the time with a simple prompt from his Echo-Eye, but he wanted to get Rhys something nice….now it was covered in the man’s blood.

~

It felt like years before Rhys finally opened his eyes again. When he did he felt like he had been hit by a truck. The first thing he saw was Jack. The mighty CEO with constantly perfect hair and an endless supply of witty jokes wasn’t there, but _Jack _was. Stripped down to just his old yellow sweater, the man was slumped over, asleep with his head on Rhys’ leg, one hand clutching Rhys’ while the other laid on the side of the bed. 

Smiling softly, Rhys lifted his hands and carded gentle fingers through the man’s unkempt hair, brushing it back into it’s usual style as he looked around the room. There were some flowers on a table, probably from Yvette, while a mini gaming system sat closer to the bed, definitely Vaughn. 

Turning his attention back to Jack, Rhys cupped one of his cheeks and whispered, “Wake up, Jack.” To his credit, the man woke up faster than usual, grumbling about low sale rates before seeming to realize where he was. Head snapping up, his eyes widened slowly in the adorable way Rhys loved, “Rhysie?”

“Hey Jack…Are yo-”

He couldn’t finish the sentence before there were lips crashing into his. The sudden kiss started out rough and desperate, but quickly slowed into something softer, something surprisingly tender. When Jack finally pulled back, he glared down at Rhys, “Never do that again pumpkin.”

Chuckling lightly, Rhys shook his head and smiled up at Jack, “If it means I get a kiss like that, I totally will.” That had Jack grumbling, but he just kissed Rhys again instead of arguing, the fervor of the action saying enough about how he had felt when the grenade exploded, and how he felt about Rhys.

_Yeah…love you too, Jack._


End file.
